Water shortage becomes a security risk | Eastern Express

Central Asia is facing a water crisis that could reshape the region’s future. Glaciers in the Tien Shan and Pamir Mountains are retreating, threatening the river systems that sustain agriculture, hydropower generation, and cities across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. At the same time, outdated irrigation networks, Afghanistan’s Qosh Tepa canal, population growth, and rising temperatures are increasing pressure on already fragile water supplies. The consequences could include food shortages, migration, interstate tensions, and deeper dependence on outside powers such as Russia and China.

In this episode of Eastern Express, host Benjamin Lee and his guest, Marcin Grabowski, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the Jagiellonian University, look at why Central Asia’s next great geopolitical crisis may begin not with oil, gas, or borders – but with water.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction: Water as Central Asia’s strategic issue
03:46 Introduction: Socioeconomic risks and geopolitics of scarcity
07:00 Interview: Worsening trends, upstream–downstream tensions, and cooperation trajectories
12:22 Interview: The necessity to modernize infrastructure
17:08 Interview: Cautious optimism for the next decade
19:22 Eastern News Flash

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